March 1: On This Day In San Francisco History

Looking east on Market St. from 6th Street in 1917. | Photo: OpenSFHistory wnp36.01493.jpg

hoodline

By Hoodline

Thursday, March 01, 2018

1918: Horse Stops To Breathe, Halts All Market St.

One hundred years ago, traffic along the city's busiest thoroughfare was brought to a standstill by "a rickety bunch of equine bones," reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

A horse named Dobbin that was pulling a wagon for the Home Laundry company "decided to knock off work for the day" in the intersection at Fifth and Market in the middle of the afternoon, according to the paper.

"He simply stood stock still in the middle of the streetcar tracks," stopping traffic in both directions. As movement ground to a halt, a crowd of four to five thousand onlookers gathered, with many "sidewalk experts" offering advice for getting Dobbins out of the way.

After plying the horse with sugar, prodding him and blindfolding him failed to work, "men of might pushed horse and wagon off Market Street into a side street less populous," wrote the Chronicle. "The darn fool horse sometimes cuts up that way," explained its driver. Market & Duboce, 1968. | Photo: OpenSFHistory wnp14.1679.jpg

On March 1, 1968, Mayor Joseph Alioto moved to end a strike by San Francisco public teachers who'd walked off the job in the middle of the school day.

The action by the Teachers Union led to major disruptions; at Balboa High School, "several windows were broken, a knife fight erupted in the street as hundreds of students watched, and the police tactical squad was called," resulting in 11 arrests, the Chronicle reported.

That same day, a two-day strike-lockout by the city's grocery clerks ended after workers "won an hourly wage increase of 58 cents" to be spread out over three years. The work action closed more than 30 Safeway stores in San Francisco, along with major markets owned by other companies.

2008: 2-Bedroom, 2-Bathroom Sunset Home Listed For $498,000

An ad in the Chronicle's real estate pages on March 1st, 2008 offered a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house at 1920 Ortega St. in the Outer Sunset across the street from Sunset Reservoir for $498,000.

The property, which includes views, a garage, hardwood floors, a fireplace and a yard, was eventually sold for $580,000, according to city records. A similar home next door built in the same year in 2015 for $1.2 million, and the property two doors down traded hands for $1.4 million last year. Photo: Scott Polizzi